Flour sifter



Aug- 17, 1943. F. E. COLLIER 2,326,761

FLOUR SIFTER Filed OGb. 7, 1940 /NVENTQR /c/C FREEMAN E. COLL/ER jdfwwm A TToeNEf/J- Patented Aug. 17, 1943 cwi-ren sier-ES rer-e Torrile-5E "f Y [12,326,761 f rincon smeer Frleeinan'll. Collier..lvlinrieapolis;A Minn., assigner L' to Foley Manufacturing Company,v Minneapolis, D/Iinn., acerporation of Minnesota "j appagante oeieber 7, 1940, serial No.. 360,107;

.a claims. (C1. @9 255) This invention relates to 'culinary apparatus andmore particularly x to liour sitters of improved design capable of being used eiiiciently and easily in culinary operations:

Flour sifters heretofore available are subject to the objections vthat they are bulky, lacking in balance-and not easy to use, particularly in ccnjunction with measuring cups; In' addition, they areY frequently heavy, expensiveto construct and erally designated lf3, having a diameter prefer ably about the same as its height. The cylindrical member is preferably made of sheet metal folded and preferablyis made or one vpiece of sheet metal. ThecylindricalV member i9 may-be r of a constant diameter throughout or of the shape shown at l0 in Figure 6, wherein the bottom of the cylinder is drawnin Vas; shown at Ilia. The upper edge of the cylindrical member is rolled over outwardly to form a flange beading as shown at Il, anniv the iewer mi erta-cylindrical member is. rolled .inwardlyf tofprovide a flange Q21."

Near the upper part :of-the. cylindrical member,

there is yprovided an arcuately shaped slot Il and immediately below tlie'outwardly turnedflange' I .I

Into theV cylindricaly member Il l. or 10', there `1 Y V is pressed a frus'to-ccnical funnel membengenerallydesignatedlL-Which is preferably a`stamp- At the upper end ofthe ing or sheet metal.A

so Vdesigned as not to be durable use. l0 funnel, there is an' outwardly rolledv flange-2 It is an object of the invention to overcome whichl is then crimpeduponitselfas shownat 22 these objections andtc provide an improved flour so as to retain arwire clothscreening, element 23. sifter which will be light Vin Weight, yet strong and The funnel member and the vWire cloth element durable, well balanced and easy to use, capablek 25 thus'constituteaanassembly Awhich is pressed of being manipulated by one hand, andin all more l into the cylindricalmember untilqthe outer-sure satisfactory than devices heretofore available. face` oi the' frustoconicalmember 20, contacts It is also an objects-f theinyention to provide the inwardly rolled flange l2 at `I4fas shown in a our sitter which maybe yused -as-afiiour sifter Figures 2 and 4. The Cylindricalmember.is'then for dispensing llour into a measuring cupor the preferably beaded' inwardly by rolling at .a lline like.- The sitter of thepresentVV invention is .20 l5 slightly-above the' upper edgeof the crimped formed so that it may be iitted solidly into a iiange pcrtionZZ, theinwardlyrolled bead serving Y measuring cup or the like, thereby avoidingtipadditionally -to compress the ilange 'andl'retain ping. 1 Y Y the entire funnel assembly il? ingpla'ce inthe cy- `Other objects ofthe invention are tho-se in:- lindrical member. herent inthe apparatus vhereinafter illustra ed,l -23 The funnel member '2li is likewise preferably described and claimed. provided with two or moreoutwardly rolled bead-- The'invention is illustrated in the drawing in ings 2 fi and 2 5, thelowerbeadingz servingtoi f which H Y f- Y provide a smoothedge and also .serving to stiien- Figure l is a plan view oi the apparatus of the the lower edge of the f rustro-conical Inember present invention; l '33 The intermediatefbeading 24 is positionedso as" Figure 2 a sectional -Viewdn elevation taken to provide Van outwardly extending ledge, l which along the lines 2 2 of Figure 1; n y Will engage upon steady the entire sifter" as- Figure V3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elef sembly when vth e samc is; plaCdupon a cup or vational View; f Y other cylindrical@Containern Y v Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional ;:ii Thelocation ofLA the intermediatefbeading 24 View o f the connection of certain parts of the (and otherintermediate headings-.which m'ayfif j apparatus; desired be providedlis such so as to enable the Figur@ 5 iS 211 enlarged elevational View taken use of theV sifter with various sizes of measuring alo-ng the line 5-5 @f Figure 2; cups Yand receptacles.- Y In this connection, it is Figure 6 is a side elevational View of a slightly 4 0 noted alsothat the inwardly extending flange Il. modied form of the device utilizing a shaped. `,of the'cylinder. also forms'a shoulderwhichlilief Cylindrical membcl' Of lesser height than that of `Wise vserves-as a rest for the sifter, Whenthe llat- Figure 2. l Y teris used with. a-rneasuring cup- AWhen the The' flour sitter apparatus of the present nfcylindrical memberis of theftype' Ill.'v shown in vention consists of a cylindrical .membery gen- .4 5 Figure 6I the lower drawn in portionv llalike- Wise providesa restportionfor measuring cups larger thanthediameter O IiangeiZ. -At lthe center of vthewire screen element 2 3, .there is pivotally mounted a spoke-shapedagi.- tator,y generallyV designated 3a.' .The agitator is preferably made of the spokes each-being vshaped inthe formof-achannel for the purposeA 0f stiffness- 1 1i 'I'he agitator S is preferably mounted with.

stamped metalandhasa l l plurality of spokes 3l,

v provided with portion.

3| in contact with the Wire screen element so as to provide a smoothl action of the agitator upon the screen element. One of the spokes 3l is also an upturned integrally formed extension 33, which is folded at the top so as to lie parallel with the spoke 3Ia, but spaced therefrom. The. portion 33 is provided with a slot 34. The entire agitator assembly 3U is pivoted upon the rivetr35, which is immovably attached on the wire screen element 23.

Protruding outwardly from of the Cylindrical member I0, lthere is a handle' the upper portion structure, generally designatedA, which is composed of a flat, U-shaped strip El. One end ofthe U-shaped strip V4l is crimped onto asheetmetal handlegpiece 42, the crimping being sufficient to hold the spring strip 4l immovable with respect to the sheet metal handle piece. Thel handle piece 42 has a .portion 43, which is spot welded or otherwise afllxed to the cylindrical with parallel embossed lines 44 for stitiening and for providing a finger gripping section and with embossing 45, whichserve .to enhance the strengthof the handle where it is joined to the cylindrical member. Y ,Y

The opposite portion of the ilat, 'U-shaped strip v4I is similarly attached -toanother `sheet metal handle portion 45, which is likewise crimpedto the U-shaped'sheet metalrspring strip, as shown at 4t.v YThe opposite end-'of the member 45 'is crimped onto a wireelement 5b, the latter being bent into a rectangularA form as shown at 5I The element 45 is likewise'provided with parallel embossings 41 which serve'to enhance the strength of the element and also serve as a-finger'grip The Awire element 5l) extends through; the arcuate *slot I1,"and then is bent as shown at 52 to extendy downwardly closely adjacent thev side wall of the cylindrical member ID. The wire ele` ment 5i) extends downwardlyyat 52 through Jthe slot 3Q, where itjis bent as shown at 53, so asfto beretained.y

In ,the 'normal Vpositionf'the "spring strip* 4l kterdsto maintain the handlein a position shown in full lines in Figure llbut when an operator grips the handle 40 and squeezes the same, it is free to move tothe dotted line position shown.

in Figure 1. Duringithis movement, Vthe wire element 'slides along the arcuate shaped slot 11, `the limits of-movement being vdetermined by the ends of the arcuate shaped slot. As the handle 4U is moved-from the full' to 'the dotted line positions shown in Figure ,1g the wire element 5! Vmember HJ, and the handle is preferably'provided ,likewise moves and rotates the spokeshaped1agi Y taior 3B with reference `to the screen 23. When the operator-relaxes the grip upon the handle 45S,

the springiness of striplfreturns A*the handle tothe position shown in *full lines and causes a return rotary movement ofthe agitator element therebyl causing flour or' other material within the sifter 'to be agitated and sifted through the screen 23. r Y Y Since the entire handle 40 is positioned at the upper portion of the sifter, and since the weight of the material is well below the position of the handle 40, the sifter tendsto hang in a stable position thereby preventing accidental spilling of material in the sifter. The sifter is thus inherently balanced and does not require any at'- tention on behalf of the operator to/prevent vbeads 24, if provided) will rest upon'anupper edge of a circular cup or other container with which the sifter may be used .thereby aiding in holding the sitter against overturning in the event the operator desires to rest the sifter upon Y, the cup or other container. By such construction, the user is able to save motions, dishes,

scattered flour, and is able to sift directly into a measuring cup'.

It is to be noted also that the lower beading 23 on the frustro-conical funnel 20 is not a 180 crimprand hence material does not tend to lodge within' the beading 23 as would be the case if the beading 23 were simply an edge metal fold.

Many obvious variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art and such are intended Vto be within the purview of the invention illustrated, described and claimed.

I claim as my invention;

' i. A sifter comprising a cylindrical member having a smoothlycurved inward flange at one end a funnel having a large end and small end, the large end having a reverse-folded flange ex-A tending outwardly and towards the small end of the funnel, a screen across the large end of the funnel, said screen having a flange bent to lie between and be embraced by said reverse-folded flange and"thereby heldin assembled relation with said funnel to-form a unit therewith, said funnel-screen unitrbeing'positioned within the cylindrical member with thesmall end oi the funnel protruding from the inwardly flanged end of the cylindrical member.`

" 21A sifter comprising Ya cylindrical member having an abutment formed on the inner surface thereofja sifter assembly comprising a frustro-v conical section, the large end of whichl has a shape and perimeter such as to nest in the cylindrical section, the material at'the large end of the frustro-conical section being flanged out-A wardly and toward the small end of the frustroconical section and then'reverse folded toward the large end with the terminating edge outermost, a .screen elementacross the large end of the frustro-conical element, said screen being terminated in and gripped by the reverse fold, the frustro-conical section with'screen attached thereto being nested in the cylindrical member with the terminating edge of the reverse fold pressed rmly against the abutment formed on the inner surface of the cylindrical member.

3. A sifter comprising a right-circular cylindrical of sheet metal having an inward'circum- Aferential bead near one end, a right-circular frustro-conical funnel member and sifter as-Y sembly of sheet metal, the large end .of the frustro-conical member being flanged outwardly and backwardly and then reverse outwardly folded so as to position the free edge on the outspilling of thematerial; Likewise, the sifterrmay v fold on the screen.

.Y side, aj screen member across the large end of .the

frustro-conical .f member and terminating Yand held insaid reverse foldsaid funnel and sitter assembly being assembled in the cylinder with the free edge of the reverse fold pressed ilrmly against the inward circumferential bead so as to increase the holding pressure of the reverse Fraisier/IANv E. COLLIER. 

